DJI is back with a new generation of smartphone gimbals. The Osmo Mobile 8 aims to turn your smartphone into a genuinely professional camera. We put it through its paces for several weeks.
Osmo Mobile 8 price and availability
Available now from DJI’s official website and authorised retailers, the Osmo Mobile 8 costs €159. This highly competitive price makes it possible to produce high-quality videos without a major outlay.
A range of accessories is also available, including magnetic mounts, DJI Mic audio transmitters and tripod grips. DJI also offers DJI Care Refresh as an optional extra: comprehensive cover for accidental damage, including collisions, water damage and normal wear, with up to two replacements in one year or four over two years.
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Enhanced stabilisation and intelligent pet tracking
DJI has further refined its smartphone gimbal. Like the model before it, the Osmo Mobile 8 features three-axis stabilisation, now improved to handle fast motion and adapt to challenging environments. This control over stability delivers impressively smooth, entirely shake-free footage, all within a lightweight, compact design.
The Osmo Mobile 8 can now rotate horizontally through 360 degrees. This feature provides greater framing freedom, allowing users to capture panoramic footage and low-angle shots. It is a welcome boost for creativity.
The Osmo Mobile 8 still includes intelligent tracking for human subjects. However, this generation introduces tracking for pets, including dogs and cats. Animal lovers will welcome the addition.
The gimbal offers three distinct tracking methods to suit every type of scene. For iPhone users, Apple DockKit compatibility brings active tracking directly to the iPhone’s native app or to more than 200 compatible iOS apps. Yes, the Osmo Mobile 8 is more fully featured for iPhone users.
In every scenario, the DJI Mimo app, available on iOS and Android, includes ActiveTrack 7.0.1 technology. This advanced version enables simultaneous tracking with wide-angle and telephoto lenses, ensuring the subject remains in frame whatever the speed or complexity of the setting. The Intelligent Capture feature identifies several subjects and makes it easy to switch rapidly between them, even in a very busy environment. Brilliant!
An exceptionally comprehensive multifunction module
The Osmo Mobile 8 comes with a multifunction module designed to enhance content quality and unlock additional shooting modes. The module attaches magnetically to the gimbal.
Its highlights include a fill light adjustable across eight brightness levels and eight colour temperatures: ideal for smartphone filming in low-light conditions. Its built-in microphone receiver, compatible with several DJI transmitters (Mic 3, Mic 2 and Mic Mini), also enables high-quality audio to be captured at the same time. Vloggers and streamers will be delighted.
The multifunction module also provides highly effective gesture control. Showing an open palm, for instance, enables or disables tracking; making a V sign takes a photo or starts/stops recording; while forming a double-L gesture with both hands automatically adjusts the framing around the subject. Magical!
Ergonomic and comfortable
The Osmo Mobile 8 also impresses with its exceptionally straightforward handling. Its very comfortable grip has been redesigned to make more unusual shots, such as low-angle filming, easier to achieve. Weighing just 370 grams, the Osmo Mobile 8 includes an extension rod that converts into a tripod. Finally, its control buttons are ideally placed.
DJI has also made activation and switching between modes highly intuitive. A simple triple press of the shutter button turns the rear camera towards you; a wheel on the left-hand side of the grip controls zoom; and double-pressing the rotation button switches from landscape to portrait mode. In short, everything is extremely simple.
Lastly, the Osmo Mobile 8 delivers excellent battery life (almost 10 hours). Better still, it can charge a smartphone while in use. After all, your smartphone is likely to run out of battery long before the gimbal does.
Our verdict on the Osmo Mobile 8
At a time when built-in smartphone stabilisation is reaching new heights, DJI has managed to restore the appeal of gimbals. The DJI Osmo Mobile 8 is much more than a basic stabiliser: it is a near-professional mobile video-creation station for smartphones. With its advanced stabilisation, intelligent tracking extended to pets, fully featured multifunction module and ergonomic handling, it completely changes the way you film every day. And it does so at a very low price. What more could you ask for?
DJI Osmo Mobile 8
€159
Overall rating
9.5/10
What we like
- Remarkable stabilisation
- Extensive creative features
- Highly effective additional module
- Very comprehensive companion app
- Low price
What we like less
- No Android compatibility without the companion app
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